Parking Stress and Gas (Greenhouse) Relief?

Even as Muni riders await sharp cuts in service, transit officials offered an update Thursday on its new parking meter technology that promises to give drivers real-time information on that rare San Francisco sighting: an empty parking spot.

SFpark, which will begin as a pilot program in the Mission District and elsewhere in late spring, uses road sensors to send real-time information that can be accessed online, via text message or at posted electronic signs to help drivers locate vacant spots, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

It would also help the city identify parking demand to adjust pricing every four to six weeks to redistribute that demand.

Drivers will be able to feed the new meters with coins, credit cards or the SFMTA Smart Card.

Summarized in the tagline, “Circle Less, Live More,” the main goal of the program is to reduce the number of drivers circling or double-parking while looking for an open spot.

“This is all-around a win-win situation for drivers and even for people who don’t drive,” said SFpark manager Jay Primus who added that meter technology has changed little since 1947.

At Thursday’s downtown forum, he blamed circling and congestion from parking issues for “why Muni isn’t as fast or reliable as it could be.”

Bicyclists and pedestrians, he said, will also find the streets safer. Read more here.